The new Sennheiser ClipMic Digital is a lav for iOS that combines a high-quality Sennheiser microphone with the ease of use of your iPhone.
Sennheiser is a renowned manufacturer of microphones in the industry, with their AVX wireless mic system already a part of the arsenal of many shooters. Their new ClipMic Digital is a lavalier microphone that plugs right into your iOS device via the Apple Lightning connector, using your iPhone or iPad as both a recorder and preamp.
The Sennheiser ME 2 capsule
The Sennheiser ClipMic Digital system consists of the tried and trusted Sennheiser ME 2 lavalier capsule and an analogue-to-digital converter from Apogee, a manufacturer with a big name in the world of converters and audio interfaces. The system is hardwired, meaning it is one piece all the way from the microphone capsule to the Lightning connector – you can’t just unplug the microphone for use with your favourite wireless transmitter, for example.
Apogee AD converter
The free Apogee MetaRecorder app for iOS allows you to record 24-bit, 96kHz WAV or CAF files, as well as link up to four recording iPhones and control them from a master device. It even offers Apple Watch support.
Now to discuss the big elephant in the room. Although it is handy that the ClipMic Digital lav for iOS can work via the Lightning connector, the lack of a dedicated headphone jack in more modern iPhones means that it is not possible to monitor sound. While there are Lightning splitters such as this solution from Belkin, this device is designed to be able to use headphones while simultaneously charging your iOS device, so there is no indication that you could in fact monitor audio through one Lightning port while the Sennheiser ClipMic Digital is connected to the other. Also, by the time you add a splitter like this, you would be complicating what should be a sleek and simple solution. Of course, you could use the wireless Earpods or other Bluetooth headphones, but latency will probably render this solution useless but for the most simple of sound checks. So, for now it seems that this lav for iOS is best paired with the somewhat older iPhones with both a Lightning port and a headphone jack.
If you are a smartphone filmmaker, journalist or Vlogger, or if you are a DSLR/mirrorless shooter and suddenly need a third audio track — and you have a slightly older iOS device — then the Sennheiser ClipMic Digital lav for iOS could be a small, practical yet very high-quality solution to have in your arsenal.
The ClipMic Digital is available now for $199/€191. For more information, visit the product page.
Do you use your smartphone for any kind of audio-related uses in your productions? Could the Sennheiser ClipMic Digital lav microphone be for you? Let us know in the comments below.

At NAB 2017 we caught up with Dracast, who developed the Magicue teleprompter, a mobile iPad teleprompter solution and its companion app that scrolls automatically via voice recognition.
Using an iPad teleprompter is one of the many filmmaking uses you can give your tablet, and is perhaps the reason why the Magicue is the best selling product in Dracast’s line up of teleprompter products. The company has also developed an app that allows you to do away with the need of a remote control altogether.
Dracast Magicue Mobile App
This iOS app uses the iPad microphone to analyse speech and scroll the text just at the right speed. While there are other apps out there that allow you to repurpose your tablet for this purpose, they require having a second person scrolling the text via the touch screen, or the use of a remote control of some kind, such as second app running on the speaker’s smartphone. By having the iPad itself analyse the speech pattern to trigger auto-scroll, you eliminate a potential for error and can achieve a more natural speech rhythm. It also makes it an ideal solution for those wanting to film themselves addressing the camera. The voice recognition feature is currently only available in English, with more languages planned for the future.
The app also provides you with other useful tools such as as a text editor to compose the speeches, or audio and video recording, among many others. You can find more information about the Dracast Magicue Mobile App HERE, and download it from the App Store for $12.
Dracast Magicue Teleprompter
If you want your video to look like you’re addressing the viewer directly, you are going to need some kind of teleprompter system in order to be able read the text while looking straight down the lens. The Dracast Magicue Teleprompter is based around a carbon fibre rod system with a mounting brackets for the camera and tablet, and which offers ample adjustability to get your setup just right. It mounts right onto a set of legs and can collapse down to fit inside the provided hard case, making it a very portable solution.
The whole kit has everything you need to get up and running, including a sun hood to prevent glare and an activation code for the Magicue Mobile app. It is available for $399.
All in all, its relatively competitive price makes this an affordable piece of kit that could pay for itself in professional use in no time, especially if you already have an iPad lying around.
Will you be adding this to your kit bag? Let us know in the comments below!

When Redrock Micro presented their affordable wireless follow focus at NAB 2010, who knew they’d take this technology so far: Now, 5 years later, they present an automatic follow focus system, but with a twist that might reinvent the way we use follow focus systems.
The Redrock HĀLO is an electronic focusing system that gives you automatic focusing as well as full manual control with a top-view of your scene.
They use the same technology that powers autonomous cars to create a real-time map of the scene. Artificial intelligence identifies your subjects (people and objects) and tracks their distance and location in real-time.
You can then tap-to-focus with visual, audible, and haptic feedback. And HĀLO becomes your technician, handling the practical details so you can concentrate on your creative performance.
Other automatic follow focus systems at NAB 2015:
There were other automatic follow focus systems at NAB 2015. Of course everybody is aware of the famous Andra focusing system which they have further improved with a digital user interface and manual inputs. But then there was also Qinematiq, an Austrian company, with an approach of using stereoscopic imaging to generate a 3D map of the scene. There’s a video that was captured by Magnimous Media, see below:
It seems the Cinematiq version is gonna be more pricey than the Redrock solution, but then again it seems to be a whole different concept alltogether.
The one question we forgot to ask concerning the Redrock HĀLO is how much preparation time it takes to setup this automatic follow focus system, in order to correctly track all objects in the scene. But we will find out about that when the time for delivery of the Redrock HĀLO comes later this year.
Estimated price is between $2,000 and $5,000.
For more information visit the Redrock Micro website.
PS: Sorry about bad audio in this video.

Personally I usually don’t care much about iPad or iPhone slates. Aside from the advantage of syncing TimeCode I find the good old wooden slate just as good for what I need during editing. After all I have to type in those Scene and Take numbers manually anyway.
Well, here’s new good reason for a technoslate:
QRSlate is a new iOS film slate application that uses barcodes, specifically “QR Codes”, as a way to automatically organize and add metadata to video dailies for use in editorial software such as Avid Media Composer, Final Cut Pro X, Final Cut Pro 7, and Adobe Premiere. The slate supports all cameras as the information is embedded in the video’s image with QR Codes.
I say that’s a cool idea. The software comes in two parts: the iOS application acting as the film slate goes on your iPad or iPhone and the QRSlate Desktop Importer reads the codes from your media files. Did you get it yet? No? They made a nice video about the process, see below.
To use this workflow you’ll need:
This on your iPad / iPhone / iPod: QRSlate Slate iPad (free) or QRSlate Slate iPhone (free)
And this on your editing computer: QRSlate Desktop Importer ($39.99)

I don’t know if this is new, but for iPad owners it’s definitely worth checking out. Definitely handy if you need to check focus real quick.
Miha shared this video with us.
From the vimeo description:
Things you need:
– Jailbroken iPad
– iFile app from Cydia: here
–
CF Card reader for iPad
, of course you can use Camera Connection Kit for SD cards also.
All formats recorded with DSLR can be previewed direclty from your card.
When you connect card to ipad, you need to close Photos App first, because it won’t let you play your video files.
Then launch iFile and navigate to Flash Drive 1 (/var/mnt/mount1/DCIM/your folder/your file. Click it and play it with default video player.

We’ve reported about the Teradek cube before. It’s almost a “cube” with a hotshoe below it so you can mount it on your camera and stream hdmi directly to your iPad or another network capable device.
In this video the Cube people show how it works as a directors wireless field monitor. Great, and at $1199 a great affordable deal. However there is a lag, so you should be careful about using it as a monitoring device to control focus or your camera.
With the new firmware update the device now won’t cause trouble on hdmi switching cameras like the 5D or T2i.
This is the model you want to use with your iPad, but there are several other models which you can see here or on the Teradek Cube website itself.
via Vincent’s blog

Teradek has announced an HD video WiFi transmitter with HDMI and HD/SDI inputs. The Cube also encodes the HD signal into H.264 with supported monitoring frame rates up to 1080/60i. It has a 1/4-thread to mount in many places on or around the camera. It also has an Ethernet port for hard line transmission. Live streaming comes to mind. This has the potential to really change the way we monitor HDSLR’s. iPhone and iPads will be rampant on sets if this works out. No mention of pricing yet. Click Here For More Info and Tech Specs.